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These 20 companies achieved greatness using the Balanced Scorecard—and you can too.
- Use the Balanced Scorecard to organize the strategy you already have. It does not create strategy; it lays objectives across four perspectives in one visual format.
- Measure customers, internal processes and people alongside finances. Traditional reporting looks only at the financial perspective and neglects areas that need attention.
- Break each high-level goal into measures, then projects, then action items. An effective-managers objective can be measured by the percentage of key managerial goals met.
- Give leadership one consolidated view that drills down into divisions. A consistent framework across divisions, partners and resellers shows how the whole company is doing.
- Build your own from the exhaustive Balanced Scorecard example. It shows how to read the strategy map behind the scorecard.
Strategic planning matters to your company’s success. When it comes to executing that strategy, you might feel completely lost.
Introducing the Balanced Scorecard.
Introduced in the early 1990s, the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is one of the world’s top strategic management frameworks. It combines four different business perspectives (financial, customer, internal processes, and people) to help companies understand and achieve their organizational objectives. The Balanced Scorecard does not create strategy. It organizes it in a visual format.
The Balanced Scorecard is decades old, and it's still widely used. 2CG, a strategy execution consultancy, has run yearly surveys about the Balanced Scorecard since 2009 to understand why and how it’s used. (You can find results from all nine of 2CG’s studies here.) Of the organizations that participated in the 2017 survey:
- 77% report that their Balanced Scorecard is extremely or very useful.
- 75% use the Balanced Scorecard to influence business actions.
- Of the 64% of organizations that have refreshed their Balanced Scorecard, the majority (71%) did so during the previous 12 months.
- The Balanced Scorecard is used by both small and large organizations: 61% of respondents had less than 500 employees, and 9% had over 10,000 employees.
These results show that companies using the Balanced Scorecard benefit from it consistently. I bet you’ll recognize many of the companies below that use it. Click each link to read a Balanced Scorecard case study and learn how the BSC helped that organization. Below the list, we describe the benefits of implementing a scorecard in your organization.
Get the ebook of balanced scorecard strategy map examples
ClearPoint Strategy offers a platform that makes strategic frameworks like the Balanced Scorecard easier to implement and more effective.
20 Companies Using The Balanced Scorecard
Private Sector
Automotive:
- Volkswagen
- Ford Motor Company
Banking:
Energy:
6. Mobil North America Marketing and Refining (NAM&R)
Environment:
7. Veolia Water
Electronics:
Healthcare:
9. Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre at the University of Toronto Hospital
Manufacturing:
Shipping:
12. UPS
Technology:
Telecommunications:
Public Sector
Local Government:
17. City of Charlotte, NC
U.S. Government:
Higher Education:
How ClearPoint Strategy Can Help
ClearPoint Strategy makes the Balanced Scorecard more effective. It gives you one platform to manage your strategic objectives, measures, and initiatives. Our software makes your key performance indicators visible across the organization and ties daily operations to your long-term mission. With ClearPoint, you can pull data from each business perspective (financial, customer, internal processes, and learning and growth) into one dashboard.
That helps you make better decisions, turn high-level goals into concrete steps, and keep your strategic plan on track. To see the Balanced Scorecard in ClearPoint Strategy, schedule a personalized demo.
5 Ways The Balanced Scorecard Can Help Your Company
1. You’ll gain transparency throughout your organization
Ask team members to describe your department’s operational strategy, and you’ll probably get a few blank stares. A Balanced Scorecard helps fix this. It shows employees how they can effect change and create value in their roles.
Think of your company’s operations as a map. The cardinal directions are the objectives, measurements, and initiatives. Without them, reaching your destination is much harder.
With them, your team can talk more clearly about where the company is headed and how they fit in.
2. You’ll grow your bottom line by looking at other perspectives
Traditional reporting looks only at the financial perspective. It misses how your customers, internal processes, and people (also called “learning & growth”) affect performance.
Looking at all four perspectives together keeps you from neglecting parts of the company that need attention.
3. Your operations will align with your mission
Companies using the Balanced Scorecard can identify what is hurting their business and outline a strategic change to get better results.
When you’re clear on what you do now and how that will change, you have a better chance of steering the company toward success.
4. Your high-level goals become tangible actions
High-level objectives are hard to act on until you break them down. The Balanced Scorecard lets you break those goals into measures, the measures into projects, and the projects into action items.
For example, if one of the objectives in your people perspective (sometimes called the “learning & growth” perspective) is to have effective managers, you might measure the percentage of key managerial goals met.
5. You’ll be able to consolidate your strategic plan
Companies using the Balanced Scorecard usually track many measures and other information. With many divisions, partners, and resellers, it gets hard to tell how the company is doing overall.
A BSC puts the important data in one place for the leadership team, giving them a bird’s-eye view of how the company is running. You can then drill down from a high level into your divisions and departments using a consistent framework.
If you want to learn more about the Balanced Scorecard (or are ready to create your own), we suggest:
- This Harvard Business Review article, authored by Balanced Scorecard creators Kaplan and Norton.
- This exhaustive Balanced Scorecard example, complete with how to read a strategy map.
- This list of 10 signs that your Balanced Scorecard strategy isn’t working, and how you can fix it.
- This detailed explanation of who should manage your organization’s BSC.
Enjoy the reading, and happy scorecarding!
Transform Strategy into Action with ClearPoint
ClearPoint Strategy’s software helps you turn strategic plans into results. It simplifies Balanced Scorecard rollout and keeps your operations aligned with your vision.
Schedule a demo to see it in action.
See how ClearPoint runs your balanced scorecard — book a demo
Common questions
What are balanced scorecard perspectives?
The balanced scorecard perspectives are:
- Financial Perspective: Focuses on financial performance metrics such as revenue growth, profitability, and return on investment.
- Customer Perspective: Measures customer satisfaction, retention, acquisition, and market share.
- Internal Processes Perspective: Evaluates the efficiency and effectiveness of internal processes that drive the organization's operations.
- Learning and Growth Perspective: Assesses the organization's ability to innovate, improve, and learn, focusing on employee training, organizational culture, and technological advancement.
How is the balanced scorecard used?
The balanced scorecard is used to:
- Translate Vision and Strategy: Converts the organization's vision and strategic goals into measurable objectives.
- Align Organization: Ensures that all departments and employees are working towards common goals.
- Communicate Objectives: Clearly communicates the strategic objectives and expectations to all stakeholders.
- Monitor Performance: Tracks progress towards achieving strategic goals using key performance indicators (KPIs) across the four perspectives.
- Drive Strategic Initiatives: Guides the execution of strategic initiatives by linking them to specific performance measures.
How do you implement the balanced scorecard?
To implement the balanced scorecard:
- Define Strategic Objectives: Identify the key strategic objectives for each of the four perspectives.
- Develop KPIs: Create specific, measurable KPIs to track progress towards each objective.
- Set Targets: Establish performance targets for each KPI.
- Align Initiatives: Link strategic initiatives and projects to the strategic objectives and KPIs.
- Communicate: Ensure that the balanced scorecard and its objectives are communicated clearly across the organization.
- Monitor and Review: Regularly track performance against the KPIs, review progress, and make necessary adjustments.
- Continuous Improvement: Use insights gained from the balanced scorecard to drive continuous improvement and strategic adjustments.
How does the balanced scorecard improve performance?
The balanced scorecard improves performance by:
- Providing Clear Focus: Aligns day-to-day activities with long-term strategic goals.
- Enhancing Communication: Ensures that everyone in the organization understands the strategic priorities and their role in achieving them.
- Facilitating Measurement: Provides a structured approach to measuring and monitoring performance across multiple dimensions.
- Encouraging Alignment: Aligns resources, initiatives, and activities with the strategic objectives.
- Driving Accountability: Establishes clear accountability for achieving specific performance targets.
- Enabling Feedback and Learning: Promotes continuous feedback and learning, allowing for timely adjustments and improvements.
Why is the balanced scorecard important for an organization?
The balanced scorecard is important for an organization because it:
- Provides a Holistic View: Offers a comprehensive view of organizational performance beyond financial metrics.
- Aligns Strategy and Operations: Bridges the gap between strategic goals and day-to-day operations.
- Improves Decision-Making: Enhances decision-making by providing relevant and timely performance data.
- Drives Strategic Execution: Ensures that strategic plans are effectively translated into actionable initiatives.
- Enhances Accountability and Transparency: Clearly defines responsibilities and expectations, improving accountability and transparency.
- Supports Continuous Improvement: Facilitates a culture of continuous improvement by regularly reviewing and adjusting strategies and performance measures.
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